Briana Thompson Ford, M.P.H. (She/her)

TIG Chair

Briana Ford is a pragmatic and solution-oriented public health research and human services program management professional from South Carolina. With a decade of experience in state program policy & population statistics research, she identifies as a zealous convert to the professional field of evaluation. Briana is the owner and principal of Ford Thinking Research & Evaluation Partners.  This year, as the TIG Chair, she is working to transform GSNE TIG into a vibrant hub for mentorship, professional development, and mutual support, thus enhancing the value of AEA membership for evaluation students and emerging evaluators for years to come.

Lizzet Rojas (She/her)

TIG Co-Chair

Lizzet is serving as the GSNE TIG Co-Chair for the 2025-2027 term. She is a Ph.D. student in the Social Research Methodology Division in the School of Education & Information Systems at the University of California – Los Angeles. Her substantive interests lie in applying systems thinking, complexity science, and improvement science to her evaluation work to tackle complex educational problems and generate positive, equity-focused systems change in K-12 and postsecondary education. She follows a pragmatist view on the use of evaluation and research methodologies and advocates for building evaluative thinking and evaluation capacity within schools.

Christine Liboon

Program Chair

Christine Abagat Liboon is a doctoral candidate in Social Research Methodology at the University of California Los Angeles’ School of Education and Information Studies. She is currently the Program Co-Chair for the Graduate Student and New Evaluators TIG (GSNE). Her research interests are focused broadly on program evaluation, culturally responsive evaluation (CRE), and continuous improvement in non-formal educational settings that serve historically minoritized and marginalized communities. Christine's dissertation research is dedicated to further understanding the concept of reciprocity in program evaluation and research practice.

Randi Knox, M.S. (She/her)

Program Co-Chair

Randi is an early-career evaluator working in internal and external capacities. She is pragmatist with a tendency towards mixed methods, applying a utilization-focused lens and blending elements of systems thinking, appreciative inquiry, and participatory evaluation throughout her work. She is constantly exploring the extensive menu of evaluation methods, contemplating evaluator experiences across the internal-external spectrum, and asking established evaluators about their professional development journeys. Randi is the GSNE Program Co-Chair for the 2025-2027 term.

An Dang (she/her) 

Communications Chair

An is a first-generation college student. Her full name (Đặng Hoài An) means "nostalgia and peace" in Vietnamese. She loves crocheting, making bead bracelets, and trying her luck at the claw machine, and her all-time favorite store is Costco. In the professional realm, An is a licensed master-level social worker in Texas. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, specializing in Human Development and Family Science at the University of North Texas. Furthermore, An is concurrently working on her second master's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Satyabrata Mohanty (He/him)

Member-at-Large

Satyabrata Mohanty is a Research Associate and Ph.D. candidate in Agricultural Extension at Visva-Bharati (UNESCO World Heritage University), India. He has served as an Assistant Professor and received numerous accolades, including the ICSSR Doctoral Fellowship, ICAR PG Scholarship, Student of the Year Award, and Best Master's Thesis Award. His research focuses on advancing agricultural extension through gender inclusion, climate resilience, and digital innovation. He has contributed extensively through research papers, policy briefs, meeting notes, course reviews, book, book chapter, and also a registered design. His work aims to strengthen Extension Advisory Services (EAS) and policy frameworks for sustainable agricultural development.

Xinru Yan, M.S. (She/her)

Member-at-Large

I’m Xinru Yan, a Ph.D. student in Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, specializing in program evaluation and research methods. My research explores culturally responsive evaluation and the impact of AI in evaluation. I serve as a junior editor for New Directions for Evaluation and as a Board Member-at-Large for AEA’s GSNE TIG, supporting emerging voices in the field.